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The 1950's Bathroom Gets a 2014 Update!

Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. It's been pretty cold here and this morning we woke up to snow. The schools had a 2 hour delay and now it's raining. Yes, that snow is wet and HEAVY!! So glad I don't have to go anywhere today! Last week we were able to complete one of the very important projects at the cottage - updating the electric. We already upgraded to breakers from fuses and changed the old outlets to 3-prong. The last step was to add some outlets. One of the most important ones to add was the bathroom. Let me tell you the story...The cottage has a beautifully preserved 1950's pink-tiled bathroom. The problem was that the outlet that was in it, didn't work. So, for the past 4 months since we moved in, I've been running an extension cord from the bedroom into the bathroom so I could dry my hair. On a side note....I burned through 2 extension cords and before the breaker box was installed, the fuses were blowing -- my 1850 watt blow dryer kicks some butt!Here is where the old plug was:

Yes, right inside the medicine cabinet. You will have to forgive me for not taking a picture of the old plug. I was so excited to be getting a new one that I didn't get out the camera until the new one was installed. So sorry - but here's the new one:

And did you notice, it's a GFI???? The old outlet no longer worked (it was one of those little brown ones, you've seen one of those, right?), but the wiring was still good. When the electrician traced it back to the basement, he discovered that someone had disconnected it. This made life SO much easier. No chopping holes in walls and snaking wire!

Now, I'm sure you've noticed that the outlet looks great, but the inside of the medicine cabinet, well, not so great. That's where I come in!

The first thing I did was tear off the duct tape. Yes, I know duct tape fixes everything, but it wasn't the look I was going for in this medicine cabinet.

I vacuumed out the cabinet and it was ready for contact paper. That's right, a measuring tape, a pair of scissors and a $1 roll of contact paper transformed this cabinet:

The mirrored doors go back in place, and the project is done!

How cool is that? The outlet hidden in the cabinet, so when the door is closed, the 1950's bathroom still looks the same!

I am so happy with the way this project turned out and I'm even more happy that I have a real outlet in the bathroom now!

The vintage bathroom really is amazing. I will post about it sometime soon so you can have the complete tour. It has some truly innovative features.

Hi Ann, well things are still in progress and I had to come and see. looks great, love the pink sink, my grandmothers bathroom was all pink tile with black accents, can you visualize? I have missed visiting, thanks for stopping by to share to prompt me to get here. Hope you have a great week, Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanks Karren!We seem to have so many projects, we run from one to the next! Good thing I retired so I can keep up! I CAN visualize the the pink bathroom with black accents. Ours is all pink and in pristine condition, not a chip in a tile anywhere! The cabinets could use some paint and new knobs - probably a winter project!So glad you stopped by. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!Ann

Your bathroom is DIVINE! I love it - can I use it too?! How lucky you are! I have a modern bathroom with all the latest fittings and I really loathe it! Barely any storage space, bland and a silly sink that looks fab but just doesn't do the job. Give me the 1950's one any day!

The hidden plug is so innovative! I am more of a transitional style girl but I love the contact paper you chose. They really have come pretty far in style for contact paper. Thanks for sharing on Merry Monday!

What a story and what an accomplishment to get that finished! I am sure you are very relieved. We went to my grandmother’s house recently and I believe it was built in the same time period.I could not believe all the updating that would have to be done to have it meet the needs of today’s current technological family.

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